Entries tagged with: freeshows

The 2014 World Cup is over but for those in NYC who want to keep some of it's locale's spirit can do so via the Brasil Summerfest which is currently underway and runs through July 26. Tonight (7/21) you have two chances to see singer Baby Do Brasil. She's playing a free after-work show at South Street Seaport and will later play The Blue Note (tickets). Then later tonight Tutu Morales and Francois K will DJ at Cielo (10 PM doors).

The rest of the lineup includes DJ Sany Pitbul and MC Junior at Lincoln Center Out of Doors on Thursday (7/24, free); and electronic act Baianasystem on Saturday (7/26) at Joe's Pub (tickets). Brasil Summerfest comes to a close with the Baile Funk Closing Party which happens Saturday at Glasslands with DJ Sany Pitbull, MC Junior, and Zuzuka Poderosa with Nego Mozambiqu (tickets).

Brooklyn punks/folk rockers/jammers/whatever-ers The Men played a free hometown show earlier this month for Union Pool's Summer Thunder series (which recently announced its August schedule) and they've got more dates coming up, including another free summer show in Brooklyn. The band will play Brooklyn Night Bazaar on August 15 with Philly rockers Purling Hiss, Honey and Friend. All of The Men's dates are listed below.

Purling Hiss also recently announced that they'll release Weirdon, the followup to 2013's Water on Mars, on September 23 via Drag City. No music from that album yet but you can check out a teaser video below.

Saturday's edition of Union Pool's free and outdoors Summer Thunder series (7/20) was a particularly good one with a headlining set from Brooklyn indie rock supergroup Obits and the heavy prog/psych awesomeness that was Toronto's Biblical. Union Pool have announced their August schedule for Summer Thunder schedule, which looks like this:

Openers for those shows are mostly still TBA. If you don't know, PAT is JD Samson's dance party "for anyone from anywhere wearing anything and loving whoever they want" with W. Jeremy, Amber Valentine, Honey Dijon, and Murray Hill. There will be video projections in the inside performance venue as well. PAT also happens at Union Pool this Thursday (7/24) with Justin Strauss, The Cary Nation, Amber Valentine and Tyler Jensen. That is also free.

Heavy Blanket, meanwhile, is J Mascis' voluminous psychedelic blues jam group who played Summer Thunder last year...for about 15 minutes (one song) before getting shut down for being too damn loud. How long will it last this year?

Again, Summer Thunder shows are free, 21+ and the live music usually starts around 3 PM depending on how many groups are on the bill. This coming Saturday's Summer Thunder (7/26) features DJ Jonathan Toubin, plus Baxx Sisi's, The Mystery Lights and a "secret set by a supreme international live act." Any guesses on who that might be?

Two Philly bands with greatreleases out this year, Modern Baseball and Beach Slang, will be heading out on a tour together this September. That includes a run with I Am the Avalanche which doesn't hit NYC (IATA play NYC tonight [7/18] with Somos though), but right before that, MoBo and Beach Slang will be here for a free show at Brooklyn Night Bazaar on September 5 with quality locals Chumped and Crow Bait. That run is leading up to MoBo's appearance at Riot Fest Chicago. All dates are listed below.

Meanwhile, Chumped play NYC tonight (7/18) as part of the Gigawatts Festival. They go on at 12:30 AM at 97 Wyckoff (4th fl), right after Field Mouse. Not long after that, they play Suburbia on July 26 with Save Ends, Laureate and Cassevettes.

Crow Bait also have other local shows coming up, including Shea Stadium on July 23 with Deep Pockets (who were good at Saint Vitus last night), Eureka California and Good Grief; the Acheron on August 4 with their Don Giovanni labelmates Brick Mower, The Elsinores and Giant Peach (tickets); and a previously mentioned Grand Victory show with Dead Stars and others in August.

All Modern Baseball/Beach Slang dates are listed, with album streams from all four bands on the BKNB bill, below...

As usual, I am nailing you with a super last-minute show announcement that I should have mentioned days ago so you could have adjusted your agendas accordingly. Recurring show of awesomeness The Talk Show Series Presents will be back at Over the Eight in good ole Disney Presents Williamsburg Brooklyn TONIGHT (7/17) at 8:30pm. As you know, the Talk Show Series presents is an ongoingseries that takes place at Over the Eight (594 Union) with a revolving cast of hosts, guests, and show titles. A recent installment called The Kevin Corrigan Show took place on April 17th and brought a whopper of a line-up including Michael Shannon, Natasha Lyonne, as well as Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson from Broad City. It was insane. And packed. And people were butt-hurt when they couldn't get in. But I have a place for those people. It's called "day care." Because they are freakin' babies.

Anyhow, the next installment of The Talk Show Series Presents is, as I mentioned in the paragraph above, TONIGHT (7/17) at 8:30 PM and is billed as The Tim Harrington Show and features special guests Holly Miranda, J.C. Chandor (Director of All is Lost, Margin Call), Sasheer Zamata (SNL's first African American female cast member since 2007), and Carmelo the Science Fellow (Brooklyn's Mr. Wizard). And the show is abso-tootely free! You know host Tim Harrington as vocalist and partial nudist of legendary rock n' roll outfit Les Savy Fav. As a matter of fact, I caught Tim when he was a guest during a Talk Show Presents episode hosted by Bobby Tisdale and can 100% vouch for his attributes as extremely funny and engaging human being. Tonight's show promises to totally rip. It's gonna be funny. As well as poignant. And cozy. So if you have nothing to do head over there and enjoy yourself.

Proudly low budget and just as proudly absurd, this comedy directed by J. Anderson Mitchell and Jeremy Kipp Walker tells what happened when General Trius (Nils d'Aulaire), whose planet was on course for a catastrophic collision with a comet, came to Earth looking for a new home for his people.

His mission was to kill earthlings and take over the planet, but when he heard music, something unknown on Hondo, he became an earthling-lover, as well as a banjo player. Kevin (Jay Klaitz), sent from Hondo to take over the general's mission, is equally captivated by music, and he and the general, performing in their spacesuits, win over the New York club scene and save both planets. - [New York Times]

The story of Future Folk, the duo of General Trius and the Mighty Kevin from a distant planet called Hondo, was documented in a film last year. This year, Trius and Kevin are currently heading across the North American portion of Planet Earth to screen the film and play live. The tour, sponsored by our friends at DOSTUFF, pulls into NYC on July 23 at Knitting Factory. The NYC screening and show -- like all the dates on the tour -- is free with RSVP. Admission based on capacity, first come, first served.

All Future Folk dates are listed, along with the trailer for the film, below...

As mentioned, The Drums are back with a new single, "Magic Mountain," which the band have now shared. "Punky" may not exactly be the word to describe it, but "Magic Mountain" is definitely the most aggressive thing they've ever done. Stream it below.

You can see The Drums will celebrate the release of the new single with a free show on Wednesday (7/16) on the rooftop of Supernova Terrace at Time's Square's Novotel Hotel. Doors are at 10 PM and you do need to RSVP to attend.

The Drums will also be back in NYC for shows at Bowery Ballroom and Music Hall of Williamsburg in September as part of their fall tour. Tickets for those go on sale Friday (7/18) at noon with an AmEx presale starting Wednesday (7/16) at noon.

Massachusetts art punks Guerilla Toss followed 2013's Gay Disco LP today (7/15) with a new EP, 367 Equalizer, on Infinity Cat. Like the last LP, it combines elements of dance-punk, no wave, noise and more for its wacked-out sound. You can stream the EP in full below.

As discussed, day 1 includes Single Mothers, Dope Body, Ed Schrader's Music Beat and Vulture Shit. While Single Mothers are here, the Canadian punks will also be getting in a smaller NYC show a day later at Cake Shop on August 30. Pricing info and more bands TBA. Hopefully we'll hear something off their debut LP by then.

If you haven't heard of Brooklyn trio Public Access TV, well that's because you're not a British music journalist. They've already been acclaimed by the likes of Q, The Guardian and NME who called them "New York's hottest new band" before they even played their first live show -- which was at NYC's Niagra in January. (Lindsay Lohan and Alexa Chung were there.) PATV is fronted by John Eatherly who was in Be Your Own Pet and also played in Eleanor Friedberger's band and The Virgins for a while. Guitarist Xan Aird was also in The Virgins, and drummer Peter Baumann is also in Grand Rapids.

As for what they sound like, Eatherly knows his way around a hook and PATV's guitar pop seems directly decended from Phoenix and The Strokes, with a little hyperactive 1979 new wave in there on tracks like "I'm Allergic." Stream a couple songs below and look for their debut later this year.

You can also see Public Access TV live, including a few shows in the NY-area. They play NJ's Wonder Bar on July 29 with Reignwolf, and then a free late night show at Mercury Lounge on July 31. Then they'll play Baby's All Right on August 14 with Chicago's Twin Peaks, and Lemons. That's an all-ages show and tickets are on sale now.

After those shows, PATV will be on the road for a few shows with The Features. All tour dates are listed, along with song streams, below...

Unlike a lot of bands that call NYC/Brooklyn home, duo Jack and Eliza actually grew up here and have been friends since childhood. Now musical partners, Jack and Eliza make winsome pop, at this point just letting their guitars and voices convey their charms. If you liked the early, stripped-down days of Slow Club with a little Beach Boys/Everly Brothers influence, they're pretty appealing. Jack and Eliza will release their debut EP, No Wonders, via Yebo Music later this summer and you can stream "Hold the Line" (not a Toto cover) below.

We've also got the premiere of a brand new song, "Simple Strait," via a live video shot at Brooklyn's Rare Book Room studios. The song might be on their debut full-length which they're working on. Watch that below.

You can also see Jack and Eliza play live. Catch them Friday (7/11) at Rooftop Films at Metrotech Commons that also features a series of "twisted, romantic short films." That event is free and more details are here. They'll also open for Ski Lodge at Glasslands on August 23 with Rumors on the bill as well. Tickets are on sale.

Jack and Eliza have a few other East Coast dates scheduled and all are listed, along with the song stream and video premiere, below...

The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion are gearing up for a European tour that starts this weekend at the Sjock Festival in Belgium. As a warm up, the JSBX will play a surprise hometown NYC gig at Baby's All Right Thursday (7/10) as part of an already pretty cool lineup featuring Xenia Rubinos and Shilpa Ray. Northern Arms are on the bill as well and tickets are still available (Jon Spencer is the "special guest" and the show opener).

Stick around after that show for a free midnight performance with Indiana's dark-n-wild TV Ghost. TEEN and White Arrows will be DJing in the front room.

TV Ghost are currently on tour and will also play NYC on Saturday (7/12) at Cake Shop with Christines, Truthers and EZTV. All tour dates are listed below

The Global Citizen Festival (formerly just Global Festival) returns this year with another concert on Central Park's Great Lawn on September 27. The giant, free ticketed event's goal is to raise money and its giant lineup that the masses should have no problem with includes Jay Z, No Doubt, Carrie Underwood, fun., The Roots and Tiesto.

The festival is part of the Global Citizen movement, which "is an initiative of Global Poverty Project, an international education and advocacy organization working to catalyze the movement to end extreme poverty by 2030." Head to the festival's site to earn free tickets or guarantee yourself a spot with VIP tickets ($100-$675) which are on sale now.

Witch -- the stoner rock band that features Dinosaur Jr's J Mascis on drums, his Sweet Apple bandmate Dave Sweetapple on bass, King Tuff main man Kyle Thomas on vocals/guitar, and Lecherous Gaze/Annihilation Time's Graham Clise on guitar -- will be coming to NYC to headline the next FREE Converse Rubber Tracks Live show at Music Hall of Williamsburg on July 23. (You may remember Dinosaur Jr played the May one.) Opening the show are their Tee Pee labelmates Ruby the Hatchet. Though the show is free, you need tickets which go on "sale" Wednesday (7/9) at noon.

It's the only upcoming date for Witch at the moment, however, you'll get to see a couple of chances to see Witch's members at other times. Dinosaur Jr will be in NYC for the free 4Knots Festival on Saturday (7/12) that also includes Mac DeMarco, Speedy Ortiz, Viet Cong, Nude Beach and more. Then J Mascis will return on October 17 when his solo tour hits Bowery Ballroom (tickets).

Meanwhile, King Tuff just announced a tour that includes NYC shows on October 8 at Baby's All Right and October 9 at Bowery Ballroom. Tickets to Baby's go on sale Wednesday (7/9) at 10 AM and tickets to Bowery go on sale Friday (7/11) at noon with an AmEx presale beginning Wed at noon.

The free Lowdown Hudson Blues Festival is back in 2014, happening July 16 & 17 at Waterfront Plaza at Brookfield Place in downtown NYC. Lineup this year includes Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings, John Hiatt, Robert Cray and more. Specifically:

Free tickets for seating will be distributed two-per-person, starting at 3 PM on day of show on the Waterfront Plaza at Brookfield Place. Tickets are only needed for the seated section, standing room space is not ticketed (but space is limited).

The show is one of a few North American dates for Sharon who has a busy year of touring ahead. All Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings dates are listed below...

Gramercy Arms, who we first mentioned in 2008 (the same year they last released anything and when we caught them at Bowery Ballroom with Nada Surf and Delta Spirit), "is a revolving New York based collective of musicians and artists, masterminded by main songwriter/producer Dave Derby (Dambuilders/Lloyd Cole) along with Rainy Orteca, Sean Eden and Kevin March. The group is releasing its second full-length record, The Seasons of Love, on Reveal Records on July 21st."

The Rough Trade show is their record release show and will feature: Kevin March (drums), Sean Eden (guitar), Rainy Orteca (bass), Carl Baggaley (keyboards), Claudia Chopek (violin), and Kendall Meade and Renee LoBue guesting on backing vocals. They have no other scheduled dates at the moment. You can watch their new video for "Always in Love", below...

Ontario punks Single Mothers have been promising their debut LP for a loooong time, and it looks like it may finally be coming soon. Touche Amore frontman Jeremy Bolm (whose label Secret Voice released their self-titled EP) recently tweeted, "Hell froze over and Single Mothers finished an LP and it's very very good." The record will be released via XL imprint Hot Charity.

Meanwhile, we did just get new music from Single Mothers singer Drew Thomson. He put out a solo EP on Secret Voice last year and returned last week (6/24) with a new 7" single on No Sleep. It's more on the alt-country side than the punk of his main band, sounding something like a sad Wilco with some of the Craig Finn vocal stylings Drew also does in Single Mothers. You can stream both tracks, "Saturday Night/Sunday Morning" and "Oxy," below.

Single Mothers don't have a tour announced at the moment, but we do know they'll play The Fest and will be coming to NYC for a free show at Brooklyn Night Bazaar on August 29 with Dope Body, Ed Schrader's Music Beat and Vulture Shit, which is an all-around solid lineup of rowdy bands. It's part of Ipsum/Dead Labour's End of Summer Blowout which also includes a show the next day (lineup TBA).

Revisit Single Mothers' self-titled EP, with streams of Drew's new songs, below...

Philly's Cayetana are currently wrapping up their tour with The Menzingers, Lemuria and Pup which hit NYC at Webster Hall back in May, but they're set to return to NYC after that tour wraps up. The band will hit Brooklyn Night Bazaar on July 25 for a show otherwise full of punk frontman solo projects. It's headlined by The Loved Ones' Dave Hause (full band), and also features Fake Problems' Chris Farren and Plow United's Brian McGee. Like all BKNB shows, it's free.

Cayetana's debut album, Nervous Like Me, comes out August 26 via Tiny Engines. Stream two very promising tracks from that, with their list of tour dates, below...

Summerscreen isn't the only free outdoor movie/music option in Williamsburg. Nitehawk Outdoors returns for a second year, but has moved locations. It will now happen at 50 Kent on three consecutive Sundays (7/20, 7/27, 8/3). Like last year, the movies are conceptually paired with a likeminded band: July 20 is O Brother Where Art Thou? with live music from The Birdhive Boys; on July 27 its Bond flick From Russia with Love with live music from Morricone Youth; and on August 3 they're showing Three Amigos preceded by a live mariachi band.

Bands start at 7 PM with the movies at sunset. Beer, wine, refreshments & food available for purchase. (You can bring chairs/blankets but outside food and drink is a no no.) Screenings are free, but you can get VIP seating for $12.

Summerscreen starts next week and will run every Wednesday through August 13 with free movies and live music in McCarren Park. The movie schedule has been up for a while but the music portion -- presented by Todd P and Showpaper -- was just announced. Next week's kickoff (7/9) is Tonstartssbandht and The Dreebs before a screening of Back to the Future. Other acts playing Summerscreen 2014 include Ratking, Man Forever, The Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger, Kleenex Girl Wonder, Eartheater and DJ Dog Dick. Bands start at 6 PM with the movies going on at sundown.

We really mean to go to the beach during the summer more than we do, but you get busy living in NYC and sometimes it's September and you realize you never made it out once. In an effort to not let that happen this year, BrooklynVegan and the fine Dull Tools label are throwing a beach party on Sunday, July 13 at Rockaway Beach Surf Club with live music from Future Punx, Eaters, Final Bloom and Royal Garde. Plus between bands your DJs will be DeeFrance2000 and myself. If you've ever dreamed, like me, of dancing in the sand to electronic-leaning postpunk, this show might be that come true. The fun starts at 3 PM and is free and open to the public. Info on Rockaway Beach Surf Club is here. Check out the flyer, designed by Dull Tools co-domo (and Parquet Courts singer) Andrew Savage, below.

Future Punx (whose frontman Chris Pickering runs Dull Tools with Savage) just played with Beverly this past weekend and if you can't make the beach party they'll open for UK band Cymbals at Glasslands on July 19 (tickets). You can stream their debut 7" below and look out for a more new music from them later this year.

Eaters released their debut album on Dull Tools earlier this year and you can stream that below. Perhaps you saw Final Bloom when they opened for Future Punx and Eaters at Death by Audio back in March. And Royal Garde are a very new band who haven't put any music online yet (but I hear they are kinda like early Bunnymen). You'll just have to come to the beach party. Hope to see you there.

Blues rockers Alabama Shakes only have a couple upcoming dates at the moment, and one of those is a chance to see them for FREE in NYC on July 24. The show is part of a new series of Mercedes-Benz free-with-test-drive events called the Evolution Tour. That show also includes an interactive art exhibit by visual artist Mr. Brainwash. The only way to get in are by attending the test drives that take place a week prior to each show, or by entering their contest HERE.

UPDATE: The NYC show happens at Terminal 5.

The series includes 9 shows with artists like Alabama Shakes, Mayer Hawthorne, and Young the Giant. Which artists plays which shows (besides NYC) hasn't been announced yet, but you can check out a list of cities and dates, with the list of Alabama Shakes' tour dates, below...

It's finally summer which means there's no lack of free outdoor live music in NYC, and here's yet another option. The Lot in Long Island City is a free, all ages music & film series running from August 2 - September 20 at 43-15 Crescent Street with music every Saturday from 3-9 PM and film every Thursday from 6-10 PM. The music lineup includes shows from Sinkane, Small Black, Kevin Morby, Hollis Brown, Jonny Fritz (formerly Jonny Corndawg), Widowspeak, Alex Bleeker & the Freaks, The Sugarman 3, Naomi Shelton & the Gospel Queens, and more. Full schedule below.

Sinkane, who's due for a new album, also has a fall tour with Helado Negro coming up that includes a NYC show happening October 5 at Baby's All Right. Tickets for that show are on sale now. After the tour, he plays another NYC show on November 2 at SOB's. No other artists billed for that show yet. Tickets are on sale. All of his dates are listed below.

Sinkane's Long Island City show is with Blue Note-signed jazz musician Takuya Kuroda, who among other things has collaborated with Jose James. Takuya also plays a Brooklyn show at Glasslands on July 26 with Gabriel Garzón Montano. Tickets for that show are on sale now. Watch a video of him below.

Speaking of all-day Saturday music series in Long Island City, Warm Up at MoMA PS1 kicked off this past weekend (6/28) and continues this coming weekend (7/5) through September 6. As we mentioned, to get to LIC from July 25 through September, you can't use the G (which will be stopping at Nassau), but there will be a bus shuttle service between Nassau and Court Sq, and you can still take the 7 or E.

The Lot in Long Island City schedule, with the list of Sinkane dates and Takuya Kuroda video, below...

Beach Slang, the new band of Weston's James Snyder, have been added as an opener to Titus Andronicus' free show happening July 11 at Brooklyn Night Bazaar, making for an excellent double bill. Also on the show is Slothrust and DJ Pegasus Warning. Doors open at 7 PM, and like we said it's free, but you can RSVP to skip the line. Show flyer below.

Speaking of great double bills Titus is on, they'll open for the legendary Buzzcocks when that band's tour hits NYC's Webster Hall on September 6. Tickets for that show are still available.